Office of the Mayor

Mayor's Office Press Release

Mayor Turner Affirms His Support For Collective Bargaining

March 1, 2019 -- Please attribute the following statement to Mayor Sylvester Turner.

“The Houston Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, Local 341, the firefighters' union, sued the City of Houston in 2017 seeking a pay raise for fiscal year 2018 after the union, not the City, walked away from the collective bargaining table.

“The union ignored the City’s requests that it return to the table. The union sued the City and asked a state court judge to set (not negotiate) all employment terms.

“The City is not mounting a broadside attack, constitutional or otherwise, on the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act (FPERA). In fact, the City wants the firefighters’ union to return to the bargaining table so that a Judge is not asked to set pay without reference to any standards.

“In my 30 years of public service, I have supported collective bargaining. I fought for collective bargaining for firefighters in the Texas Legislature in 2005. To this day, I am committed to collective bargaining."